Disclaimer: I don't Own Criminal Minds and I'm not making any profit off of this story.

Summary: Penelope breaks down after a hard case.

I was inspired to write this while listening to the song 'When You Say Nothing At All'

Please R&R

Enjoy!

…

Penelope tightly gripped her pink fluffy pen as she listened to Morgan and Hotch trying to talk the unsub down.

She was sitting in the police station with JJ, her cell phone in between them on speaker.

Penelope couldn't help but think that if she had just been able to hack into the unsub's network ten minutes faster and had gotten the name of his next victim then the team wouldn't be in this situation. That the little girl would be in safe hands rather than being in a hostage situation with a gun held to the back of her head like she was now.

"Don't do it man," they heard Morgan saying "put the weapon down."

Then there was a single shot fired that rang out through the silence, followed by Morgan shouting "NO!"

"Someone get a medic!" Emily's urgent voice called.

It was all too much for Penelope. Without waiting to hear what happened Penelope bolted up out of her chair and raced out the back doors of the police station.

JJ called after her but Penelope didn't turn around and the door closed behind her.

…

Aaron was the last one back at the police station. He walked in and saw the team gathered in the conference room where they had set up. They were all looking pretty well worn, Aaron didn't blame them, the case had been a brutal one. Seven children molested and murdered, only in a short time span of five weeks.

They had hoped that they would at least be able to save his next victim.

JJ looked up and saw him walking towards the open door. She had been talking to Morgan but she gently patted him on the shoulder and said something to him that Aaron couldn't hear before walking out to meet him.

Before Aaron could say anything JJ nodded towards the back exit of the police station and sighed "Penelope ran out there after she heard the gunshot. I haven't gone out there because I wanted to give her some space, I know how hard this case was for her, but it's already been twenty minutes."

"Thank you JJ," Aaron said with a nod before headed to the back door.

Aaron stood at the door, looking out of the glass and saw Penelope sitting on the third step down just off to the side, with her head in her hands.

Aaron sighed and stepped outside.

…

Penelope looked up when she heard the door open but quickly looked away when she saw that it was Aaron.

She stood and faced the parking lot with her back towards him.

"Penelope," Aaron said walking towards her.

"Don't!" Penelope hissed, then more softly "Just don't…"

She wrapped her arms around herself and let a tear roll down her cheek.

"I was off my game today, I made a mistake and I cost that girl her life because of it!" Penelope's voice was muffled as she let out a sob. The flood broke and tears poured down her face.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and tried to pull away but Aaron wasn't having any of that. His grip was firm but gentle as he turned her around and pulled her into his embrace so that her head rested just under his chin.

He held her for a long time, not saying anything at all.

Penelope sniffed and nuzzled closer to Aaron. She was already beginning to feel better just standing there in his arms. She didn't know how he did it but even without words, Aaron was always able to make her feel better.

After a long silence Aaron placed a hand under Penelope's chin and lifted it so that she was looking at him.

"You did your best today Penelope. We all have days that we feel like we could have done more. That if we had just gotten there a few minutes earlier maybe we could have changed the outcome. But the truth is we always do our best, there is no use second guessing ourselves because there's no way of knowing if those few minutes or seconds would really have made a difference. Walters may have decided to choose a different victim if he saw that we had Angela Vaughn. Besides if we second guess ourselves on every case it would make our jobs impossible."

"But…" Penelope began.

Aaron held up a hand stopping her in her tracks.

"Penelope you did a really good job today…" Aaron shot her a look when she opened her mouth to interrupt him again. "Angela Vaughn is fine; she was reunited with her parents right after we got Walters into custody."

Penelope gaped at him "What? But the gunshot…and Morgan?"

"Morgan was yelling at a trigger-happy cop. Walters was lowering his gun but one of the more inexperienced cops still shot him. Angela was a little shaken up but other than that she was fine." Aaron explained.

"Oh thank god," Penelope muttered, slumping against Aaron's chest "next time lead with that!"

Aaron chuckled.

Penelope looked up at him, her baby blues meeting his dark gaze.

He held a soft smile on his face as he looked down at her. Penelope leaned up and pressed as kiss to his lips. "Thank you," she whispered when she pulled away.

Aaron kissed her back in response.

"Hey guys?" Morgan called, opening the door and effectively ruining the moment "Wheels up in thirty, we need to head to the tarmac."

"Be right in," Aaron called back.

Morgan nodded and turned away.

"Are you going to be okay now?" Aaron asked her.

Penelope nodded.

"You ready to get home?" he said with a small grin.

"Oh you have no idea" Penelope answered.

Aaron pulled her close and placed one last kiss on her lips before guiding her back into the police station.